Sunday, July 31, 2011

I’m not fond of going to the beach. I was born a few miles
from it. I grew up going to it. I was just never enamored with sand-encrusted
crevices or sunburn streaks where mom missed with sunscreen. Occasionally I’m
inexplicably drawn to it and when I find a far flung beach devoid of umbrellas,
noodles and men wearing black, knee-high socks, sandals and Speedos, I find I
can handle it. When that beach is littered with fossilized shark’s teeth and
etched with sea turtle tracks, I look forward to going back as soon as I’ve
left.

Don Pedro State Park is located on a barrier island in Charlotte
County, Florida. It’s only accessible by boat – a quick kayak paddle from the
mainland. The relatively undeveloped island is covered with sea oats, Sea
Grapes and Sable Palms. It’s not hard to have the beach to yourself. During a
recent trek I noticed what looked like tire tracks going into the dunes and
another set coming out. As I got closer it became apparent it was a turtle
track. Most likely a Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta) crawled out of the
ocean during the night, dug a funnel shaped nest, laid her eggs, covered it and
returned to the sea.

Loggerheads come ashore from April to August every year to
nest and can lay up to 135 eggs. After nearly three months of incubation, the
hatchlings will dig out of the sand and head to the sea. When nests like these
are discovered, they are protected from nest predators and beachgoers by
placing a wire cage over it.

Sea turtles need beaches like Don Pedro. Undisturbed beaches
are few and far between and essential for the sustainability of their
populations. Many beach communities are flooded with unnatural light that
disorients female turtles coming ashore at night to nest. Debris found on
popular tourist beaches, like litter, beach chairs, nets and other obstacles
make it difficult for the sea dwellers to navigate on land and can entrap
hatchlings headed back to sea. It’s important to keep our beaches clean and
protect the few remaining undisturbed beaches.

Loggerheads and other sea turtles spend a fraction of their
lives on the coastline and usually only to nest. Like the turtles, I spend
little time there as well but when I do, it rouses my curiosity. Where do these
turtles go and how do they spend their lives? When they come ashore are they
curious about life on land and what do they think of the men in their knee-high
socks?

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Bald eagles, hawks, owls and ospreys get a great deal of
attention but of all of the raptors, the kites are often ignored. Part of the
lack of enthusiasm for Swallow-tailed Kites (Elanoides forficatus) is that
they never seem to land. As soon as morning thermal updrafts develop they take
to the sky and soar like a kite – rarely flapping their wings. (In truth, the
toy is named after the bird). Just a warm summer breeze and both are carried
aloft.

The Swallow-tailed Kite has a deeply forked tail which they
use to exercise amazing twists and turns. Their prey includes dragonflies and
other aeronautic insects which the birds catch and eat while in the air. They
swoop from the sky and take unsuspecting birds, lizards and other terrestrial prey,
taking no time to rest and enjoy their
meal.

Another possible reason many people don’t get wild for
Swallow-tailed Kites is the snow white bellied birds return from South America
from roughly April through August when the southeastern United States
is heating up. The Kites arrive just as the bird watching season wanes. When
it’s 95 degrees out, the birds are out while the people are in.

On my Sunday morning bike ride in the Corkscrew Regional Watershed Ecosystem’s Bird Rookery Unit, We inadvertently spooked a flock of
kites roosting in a dead maple tree. This was the first one I have ever seen
perched, which gave me the chance to check out a well curved beak and navy blue
wings that look like a five year old had colored sloppily over the lines.

In a few weeks the Swallow-tailed Kites will begin to gather
before migrating south. People that hadn’t noticed they were here are missing
out. Those that saw a bird fly by and paid no mind are too. But those that
realize what they are looking at know what a special bird it is. See you next
year STKs.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

In the next few weeks, baby alligators, cramped in
chicken-sized, leathery eggs that look like deflated balloons will begin to
grunt. It’s really more like a bark. It tells mama alligator, who has patiently
defended the nest for the last sixty-three days, that her babies are ready to
bust out of their eggs and crawl into the light.

Female alligators often make nests in secluded areas of a
swamp, mostly for protection from other alligators. They scrape vegetation and
mud into a large mound typically four feet wide and three feet high. They can
lay anywhere from 20-80 eggs in the nest
before covering it over and allowing the decaying vegetation to produce the
heat that will incubate the eggs and support the development of her baby gators
or “grunts”.

As an ectotherm, or “cold-blooded” reptile, she can’t
contribute heat to the nest. Her role is to protect the nest from predators
like raccoons, opossums, snakes and crows. The sound of the grunts barking
encourages her to scrape the top off the nest and assist in their introduction
into the water. When they are born they are typically six inches long. By their
first birthday they have grown to a foot in length and grow on average, a foot
a year for the first seven years of their lives.

As young grunts they are near the bottom of the food chain.
Hatchlings can be eaten by Wood Storks, Snapping Turtles, Raccoons, Large Mouth
Bass and other Alligators. Within a few years they are on the top of the food
chain and can eat anything they can chomp and swallow. People are not on the
menu.

On an incredibly scenic bike ride through the 7,017 acre Bird
Rookery Swamp Management Unit in the Corkscrew
Regional Watershed Ecosystem in Naples,
FL we spotted well over one
hundred grunts, many gathered in “pods” and sitting on logs or floating in the
duckweed. Most of them did an alligator cannonball at the sound or sight of our
presence. Each one guarded by a mama gator, seen or unseen.

I was wrong. I can admit it. Normally I would say “I don’t know what that is.” but in this case I was quite sure that the Wood Stork (Mycte...

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Hey! Look at me!

I was born and raised just west of the Everglades. Growing up at the Florida Monkey Sanctuary, a 10-acre, private non-profit organization owned and operated by my parents.
My experience at the sanctuary involved not only working with hundreds of primates of various species, but also provided the opportunity to become immersed in the natural history of the area, where the sanctuary alone was home to Sandhill Cranes, Wood Storks, Indigo Snakes, River Otters and abundance of other native wildlife. Leaving the subtropics for colder climates, I attended the University of Vermont and graduated with a BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology. I returned to southwestern Florida and guided for the Everglades Day Safari from 1998-2000 before once again trading sandals for snowshoes in Vermont where I worked for six years as a Park Ranger at Lowell Lake State Park in Londonderry, VT. and for several years as the Director of the Vermont Institute of Natural Science in Manchester, VT.
Now I'm back in Florida and I’ve returned with a vengeance, which I keep caged like an angry monkey with a bucket full of poop and deadly accuracy.